The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1887-05-08
IN MISS LIBERTY'S HAND.
A THRIE HUNDRED FOOr CLIMB
ON A WINDY DAY,
And How the climbers Felt when
They Got Out ON the Torch
Balcony.

NEW YORK, May 5.-"You had
better leave your overcoats here,
said Mike.
The remark was made to three
men on Bedloe's Island yesterday
afternoon as they stood in one of the
numerous rooms underneath the
Statue of Liberty. The men were
starting to climb up to the torch, 300
feet above. Two of them went up
out of curiosity, while the third
overcame his fears and climbed up
the interminable ladders. that the
readers Of this paper might know
how pleasant thing it is to stand on
a frail iron scaffolding, held out
against the sky by a bronze maiden
who had but to loosen few of the
copper stitches in her garments and
let the party start on a race to the
ground below.
Mike is one of the six men who
feed the fires of the machine which
harnesses the lightning and who send
this mysterious fluid up through ar
teries into Miss Liberty's hand. He
wore a suit of overalls and a hat two
sizes too small for his head. His
face wrinkled into a sardonic grin
when Dennis Sullivan, Miss Lib
erty's custodian said:
Take these men to the top"
Very few of the thousands of visi-
tors who visit Bedloe's Island are
permitted to 90 any higher than the
pedestal. Mike lit his lantern, a
feeble glimmer of light, which only
served to make the darkness deeper,
aud shouted Come on" The climb
was commonplace enough to the
top, a distance of eighty nine feet.
The fun commenced when the sign
forbidding any further progress was
encountered near Miss Liberty's
foot.
The stairs are made of stout, I'M
planed pieces of wood, with smooth
hand rail. They zig gag upward in
short flights, DISTRACTED occasionally
by iron Orders, which come into VIC
lent contact with unwary heads. The
light of the lantern disappeared in
the gloom above, leaving the climbers
in Cimmerian darkness. Miss Liberty
wore her diamond yesterday. They
were diamonds OF light Pickering
through tiny hole in her bronze man
tie.
AS the visitors approached the
massive breast of the statue curious
sound was heard, which Mike said
was Miss Liberty's matin hymn, but
which was found to be only the wind
signing through her headdr.ss. The
staircase became narrower and
sleeper; the lantern light disappeared
of.ener; the climbers stumbled
frequently and chung to the railing,
for only an inch of wood interviewed
between them and gulf of darkness.
The occasional reassuring of Come
on" of Mike came from above and
the mighty arm pit of Miss Liberty
was reached. An iron ladder trav-
ersed the remaining forty-two feet
to the torch. Mikes lantern was
unnecessary now, as the sunlight
came in at the top. Painting and ex-
hausted, four men YEARLY climbed
the ladder, stopping at intervals to
catch breath, till at last they emerged
on the iron balcony. The wind blew
gale. There was a perceptible vi
bration to the arm, which caused a
slight nauseatiDg effect like that Of
sea sickness. Mike was the only per-
fectly cool man of the party. The
rest simulated courage which they
did not feel. One young man whose
teeth chattered-probably because
he felt cold-refused to come out on
the balcony, but contented himself
with view of Jersey shore. An
other hung to the railing with both
hands, and made a CHASTITY attempt
to smile at Mikes pleasantly in jump
ing up and down on the balcony. To
say that the magnificent view was
appreciated would be telling a lie.
The reporter was dimly conscious
that off to the southwest lay blue
streak which might be Staten Island.
He wasn't positive. An apparently
iilimitable expanse of water lay be-
low, dotted with vessels. A few
figures at the foot of the pedestal
waved their hats, and over on the
Long Island shore Mike pretended
he saw mammoth Jumbo, which
was not perceptible to the gaze Of
others.
1t was decidedly eerie up there
with only a half inch of iron inter
vening between the climbers and 300
feet of space. Besides the ground
looked very hard below, and there
was a chance of striking stone. 1t
was with a sigh of relief that the
4 descent was begun. Such minor de-
tails as Mikes boot heel coming IN
contact with hat were deemed I'M
worthy of notice, and it was reassur-
ing to hear Mike say that the statue
could not possibly blow away with
out taking half the pedestal with it,
The statue is not the only inter
esting thing on Bedloe's Island.
There is little graveyard there sur
rounded by an iron railing, the in
scription over the graves telling that
the inmates we're laid away nearly
sixty years ago. Mr.. Sullivan said
that the people of Jersey were an.
gered because they were permitted
only sight Of Miss Liberty's back
hair, and that in revenge they sent
over clouds of mosquitoes and GALL
nippers, which insects made exist.
ence torment to the soldiers who
patrol the island.
SIDNEY LANIER,